Proposed “shield law” moves forward
The Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor has approved a bill that would protect reporters from having to disclose their information and sources.
Committee members voted unanimously this morning to pass House Bill 2557, the so-called “shield law” that has attracted attention over the past few months from the attorney general, the Hawai`i Supreme Court, the county prosecutor, the police department, the Society of Professional Journalists and numerous other media-related entities.
At the bill’s January hearing before the House Committee on Judiciary, testifiers questioned who the bill would protect and highlighted the increasingly-blurred line between citizen and professional journalists.
The House committee deliberated on HB2557 and passed it at the end of February with an amendment protecting individuals who could establish that they gathered and prepared information “of substantial public interest for the purpose of dissemination to the general public by means of any tangible or electronic medium.”
The House draft also contained exceptions to the shield. Information could be extracted from a reporter if it related to a crime that he or she was either involved in or witnessed, or if the source of the information in question consented to the disclosure.
“An exception should be provided to ensure that law enforcement and public safety are not compromised,” state Attorney General Mark Bennett said in written testimony, noting that he supported the intent of a shield law for journalists.
The House-amended draft also allowed a party in a civil judicial matter to seek disclosure from a reporter under certain circumstances.
The Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor conducted a public hearing on House Bill 2557 last month and considered two new proposed drafts from the attorney general and media attorney Jeff Portnoy. The committee postponed its decision several times to allow more time to reconcile the details.
The Senate committee passed a draft this morning that deletes the references to non-criminal judicial matters and consent by the source. The new draft allows for disclosure of information that is “vital to the investigation or prosecution” of a homicide or felony providing all other sources have been exhausted. It also makes minor adjustments to the House committee’s definition of who the shield applies to, clarifying that public interest must be preserved when affording the bill’s protections.
Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee Chair Brian Taniguchi promised to note the competing concerns in his committee report and expressed hope that the attorney general and media entities could reach a compromise by the time the bill goes to a conference committee composed of both senators and representatives.
House Bill 2557 needs the full Senate’s vote of approval before it goes to a joint committee.